starvation mode??

Hi Twinmom
Jen here. You should read my profile and that may help you understand it a little.

Starvation mode occurs when your body is deprived calories you take in on a regular basis. It normally happens when you suddenly stop eating. Naturally, your body will cosume the fat it has on hand for energy until the "crisis" is over.
Unfortunately the body reacts when you do start to eat again, by hording any calories it can and stores it as fat to be consumed if the "crisis" re occurs. So, you gain weight.
The best thing to do is eat even if you aren't hungry but in smaller portions so your body still has calories to consume from intake instead of what you have currently stored in your body. Fruits, veggies and fibre are good or you could have a protein shake which has alot of nutrition in it. You should never not eat for a whole day because your body will panic and wonder what the heck is happening.
Hope this helps!
J

They say starvation mode makes it harder to lose weight, but I rarely, if ever, reach 1200 calories and I'm losing, slowly, but still losing. 1200 calories is alot for me. I eat mostly fruits and vegtables, some chicken and tuna. No sugar, no flour. You just have to find your "key' to losing slowly. I just increase exercises and am addicted now to this food journal. This web site helps alot, I think. Good luck! Chris.

if you dont keep a regular pattern of eating then you body thinks that the next day its not gonna get nutriton till a certain time or maybe not at all so it stores the fat cause you body thinks you starving then it goes after your muscle because its more lean thats what makes you get biiger even though you might be getting lighter... even if your not hungry have a smoothie or something just make sure you eat around the same time every day.

I had never noticed the spot to hit the button when you're done for the day. I also got the notice that I need to increase my calories, I was about 24 calories short of my suggested limit. Then it added that at my current rate, I would lose 12 pounds in 5 weeks, Hmmm, well, that sounds good to me. Today, I woke up to a refreshed page which does not have anything entered for food or exercise yet and it said to increase calories but said at the current rate I would lose 18 pounds in 5 weeks. Everything I've read says if you use more calories than you take in, you'll lose weight, and you should reduce what you eat by 500 calories a day to lose one pound a week. It would be interesting to log for a week what I used to eat, because I'm sure I'm decreasing by half. I've heard of "starvation mode" and it seems to assume that you are eating and it does not apply to people who don't eat. So people with anorexia, bypass surgery, fasts, detox programs, etc are going to lose weight. That's really all I know about this topic. I'm a recovering drug addict and I think this is harder than kicking that habit. I find it much harder to try to control rather than quit. I often say, if I could just quit eating I'd be able to do this. In a way, that's true, but I can't go without eating without causing long term damage. So, what's a girl to do...

I've asked this on other strands but haven't gotten an answer. What about people with bariatric surgery? They eat SIGNIFICANTLY smaller amounts of food, but still lose weight. If I'm not mistaken, the surgeries do not alter their metabolism. So, how do they NOT go into starvation mode. (Side note, how does this fit in with slimfast? There's now way people doing that can hit 1200 calories a day, right?

INQUIRING MINDS want to know

My answer is just from observing people who have gone through it, but I think they are eatting sooo little at first that their body doesn't have a choice but to give up some of the weight.

I think eventually, they can get their calories up to the 1200 level, but definitely not at first. Protein is high, so that helps. After a few years, I have watched one of my family members begin to gain back some of the weight. It seems like her metabolism just isn't running well anymore and she never really learned how to change her lifestyle without the surgery forcing her hand. She is definitely doing much better, but with such a weak metabolism she is gaining a little. I am trying to share my MFP knowledge with her!